FRIENDSHIP

-->Anais Nin put it beautifully when she said, "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

Defying the obvious overlapping and gray areas, I find it interesting to think of friendships as they fit the following catagories:

The timeless or forever friend

The “what if” friend – If only we had more time to get to know each other….

The convenient - circumstantial friend

The not quite friend

The spiritual friend

The good time friend

The friend who makes me laugh

The refrigerator friend

The family friend

The shared or mutual friend

The mentor friend

The opposite sex friend

The colleague friend

The common interest friend

The life event friend

In my seventy-four years I have had friends move in and out of my life, the course of our friendship determined by our shifting circumstances.  Most of the time we have lost touch with one another, relying on memories to sustain the kinship.  Recently, with the aid of modern social networks, I have been able to re-connect with some of these friends from the past, and that is pure delight.

 

This was a very unique group of friends.  They visited me (hat and sunglasses) when I was diagnosed with measles in my sophomore year of high school.  I think they were hoping to catch the measles bug so they could stay home from school.  That did not happen.